Pregnant Snowman

Ever wondered what a pregnant snowman would look like? Well I suppose it would be a pregnant snow woman, but that's not the point. Apparently I am one of the only people who wonder such things because try as I might, I was unable to find a Christmas ornament of a pregnant snowman, and just now I was unable to find a picture of one online. Why am I the only one with such deep thoughts?

I was reminded of this yesterday because I had to go down to a site for work. At the site, we're required to suit up in "bunny" suits. I'm sure you've seen similar things on TV. They're white, and big and bulky. Whenever I put one on, I feel like I'm magically transformed into a snowman.

OK, so that's putting a little bit more of a romantic twist to it than the experience really deserves, but we'll move on...

So today I'm working with my big white snow suit on and one of the girls comes up to me and asks if I'm pregnant. Well, more like motions if I'm pregnant, because it was really loud and it's difficult to understand what others are saying when their face is covered with a mask. So, she put her hand on her belly, rubbed it around a little in a "are you pregnant?" sort of manner.

I was shocked! Don't get me wrong, I know I look pregnant... but underneath a huge, bulky, baggy white suit? Come on! You've got to be kidding me?!

Meet Ms. Spunky Tummy

Ms. Gorgeous Tummy and Ms. Sexy Tummy have a new friend! This is Ms. Spunky Tummy. How cute is that? I think I could pull off a picture like this myself and just may do that.

And for those who are wondering, I still haven't been able to duplicate Ms. Sexy Tummy yet because my belly button is refusing to pop out. It is getting more and more shallow, though, so I still have high hopes!

At least we know it's comfy

We usually keep the doors to the nursery and guest room closed so that they are as close to "cat free zones" as possible. However, it is always surprising how quickly the cats invade if the door is left open. Rascal snuck in without me noticing (we later heard her desperate cries for help from behind the closed door), and by looking at this picture you'd think Pounce had free-reign to the room... but no. This was taken only 5 minutes after the door was open. At least we can rest assured that the crib is comfortable!

Un-necessary worrying

I used to make fun of my mom for how much she would worry about us when there was nothing to worry about. A classic example would be how if she would have to slam on the brakes while driving, she would automatically fling up her arm to hold back the child in the passenger seat, as if her arm would save us when the seat belt alone would not. I even remember on one occasion how she knocked the wind out of me by trying to save my life in such a way. Mothers. They can be so silly.

I recently got my first real taste of this un-necessary worrying. I had convinced myself that I was not feeling the baby move much and that it was abnormal. Forget the fact that I was pretty active when this thought came to mind (usually I notice my baby move most when I'm not moving myself and everything around me is silent). Without going into too many details, let's just say that it was the first time I really thought about what it would be like as a parent to lose a child. And believe me, I did not like it one bit.

And just for you worry-ers, baby is moving around just fine now. =)

Pregnancy Spurts

Do you ever feel like you just got super-pregnant over night?

No? Maybe it's just me then.

I didn't want to say anything because I thought for sure it was my imagination, but then Michael asked me a couple nights ago "Do you ever feel like you reach a plateau when it comes to your pregnancy progress and then BAM! Overnight, you take a huge leap forward?" Apparently he, too, noticed that overnight I suddenly started sitting and standing up like a pregnant woman.

And I swear it was not a gradual change. Saturday I was sitting and standing just fine, but Sunday I was all about the reaching behind me for support and standing with my stomach first. Much like when I first got my tummy in November, it was an over-the-night change.

On the bright side of things... this weekend we went shopping for anther pair of pregnant jeans (sadly my first pair might have to go into early retirement). OK, OK, so that's the the bright side yet. The bright side is that I got a pair of overalls!


Yay! Yay! I LOVE OVERALLS!!! I used to have a pair in college and I quickly learned that it is nearly impossible to wear overalls and be upset! They're magical really! But now, I look super cute because not only can I wear cute overalls and get away with it (they're not widely accepted on the East Coast), but I look super cute AND pregnant! So much fun!

Don't believe me? Well just ask and I'll tell you just how much fun they are! I believe that there might even be studies that show it's nearly impossible to be in a bad mood when wearing overalls.

Google

I just did a google search for "luv to discover" child care, hoping to find a website for one of the daycare centers we're interested in. I got excited when google came up with a page that had the words "quality care" and "we will go with Luv to Discover if..." because it meant that there was someone out there with an opinion on the daycare center!

But alas... my heart sank when the link brought me to my own blog.

Shotgun Renewals

Every now and then I look at my husband and think of how much I love him and find myself jokingly asking him if he'll marry me. Usually his response is a funny confused look that says "Uh, Honey, we already are married and have been for a few years now."

I did this again recently but this time his response was to laugh and ask, "You mean like a shotgun wedding?"

Hehehe... Maybe I'll mention that to my sister. If she can't think of enough activities for the couple's baby shower she's hosting for us, maybe we can turn it into a Shotgun Vow Renewal Ceremony!

Human Pin Cusion

Tomorrow I get to start a special 3-day diet. Why you might ask? Well, read on my friend, read on.

The results from my blood work last week came back with high levels of glucose, which means that I have to go in for further tests to determine if I have gestational diabetes. First I have to be on this diet for 3 days, then I get to go get my blood drawn again first thing in the morning on the 4th day. If you don't already know, then let me tell you now that I do not like needles so this was not happy news to me. In fact, not only do I have to get my blood drawn again, but I have to have it have it drawn once, then drink my orange goo again, then draw again every hour for 3 hours. Count them up... That's four more needle pricks! UGH.

I know that just because my first test came back high does not mean I have gestational diabetes, but it does make me a little nervous. Part of me feels like my pregnancy has been going so smoothly and uneventful that it makes sense for something like this to pop up. But try not to worry about me too much, because I really am not all that upset about it. Even if the next tests come back positive, I know that it can be treated with diet and exercise (which I have already started - exercising), and won't have any bad effects on the baby (assuming it is treated).

...Pause...

Ha! Fooled you! I was only kidding! Well, actually I wasn't. I was in the middle of writing my blog entry when my midwife called back to tell me she told me wrong. Apparently the lab had written that anything less than 130 glucose level is normal and since my results were at 135, I was too high. However, my midwife assures me that those numbers are wrong and that anything less than 140 is normal. So I'm OK.

Sorry for the scare. Hope you can forgive me.

Tummy Tummy Tummy (28 weeks)

You really would not believe how quickly this pregnancy thing is going for me! I can't believe it's been so long since posting tummy pictures! And it figures that I feel like I need to post them when I have so many other posts that I would like to place. I wouldn't want to overwhelm you with too many posts to read at once, so I'm trying to spread them out. Besides, what if I run out of things to say? Then what?


Oh right... we're talking about pictures. These two were taken at 25 weeks. Yep, that's a tummy, and yep my beloved pregnant jeans are getting too tight.


And here I am at 28 weeks (just this last weekend). It as a really dark morning so the pictures are a little blurry, but they are what they are. I think that this picture is the first one that really makes me look like I'm pregnant instead of just fat. However, I'm willing to admit that it might be my imagination. :P


I think you owe me a congratulations for getting those pants on again! Though they went on, I can't say that the process was pretty. In fact, I seem to remember a comment along the lines of "they should sell jean grease to help women get their pants on" came out of Michael's mouth.

Daycare Take II

As I mentioned last week, we have been looking at daycare options. Since we don't really know what our options are, we decided to keep an open mind on Family Care providers (ran out of some one's home) and Day Care Providers (actual centers), but just to narrow things down a little we decided to limit the search to places that would accept part-time infants.

If you're anything like me, you would think that finding a place that accepts part-time infants would be easy, and you'd be right but oh so very wrong at the same time. It's easy to find places that allow you to drop your infant off 3 times a week... but only charge you for those 3 days? Ha! You have to pay for all 5 days no matter what! And that can get pricey! Wooo-eeee*! We went to a daycare conference on Saturday just to see some of our other options and we found places that charge $400+ per week for infant care!!! Do the math... That's over $1600 a month!

Anyway... We've looked at three places so far:

1. Family Care Provider - This ended up basically being a woman who takes care of a few children in her house. She was Afgani and wore the covered clothing, sat on the floor, and couldn't shake Michael's hand. The advantage of this would be that she could introduce the baby to another language, which we like. The disadvantage would be that I could not understand her. Though she speaks English, her daughter had to translate for her many times. There really wasn't much to this place and it seemed like the most common form of entertainment for the children was the couch and the TV. $50 per day for part-time.

2. Little Lighthouse - We really liked this center a lot. The director has 20 years of experience and mentioned (on several occasions) how much they love coming to work everyday. She told us about how infants just need a lot of attention and they are held and talked to and sung to. They also do baby sign language (at least the simple signs like "more" and "food"), which we really like. $65 per day for part-time.

3. Luv to Discover - This was an interesting center because it was really small and was actually the basement of a house. The director had the basement of her beautiful house converted into a certified center. It was smaller and seemed cleaner than the Little Lighthouse. The director was really super-friendly and easy to talk to. We liked this place as much as the other center, but it is further out of our way and less convenient. We have to verify the price with her, though. $55 per day for full-time (might increase for part-time).

Needless to say, after seeing the two centers, we knocked the first one off our list pretty quickly, especially since it didn't seem to save us much money and the child would get so much more out of the center!

Our decision is this:
We will go with Little Lighthouse if Luv to Discover is $5/day difference in price. We will have to think about it more if it's $10/day difference (that adds up quickly). In the mean-time, though, I will try to find a Family Care provider that gives quality child care at a price lower than those options. I'd like to see more variety of family care providers so that I don't base my opinion on just the one.


* That's the sound of a surprised cowboy. Duh. I just don't know how to spell it. Woowee? Wuwee? Whooowhee? Whookwee? (the k is silent)